Trail Running

Today was a beautiful clear, winter's day. I could see the sunlight steadily spreading across the high valley sides, so Orchy and I set off on a trail run in the woods.

I love trail running with Orchy. He zooms ahead of me, looping around the forest, catapulting down the hillsides, whilst I steadily plod along the track. The forest trails are quiet, and I settle into my stride and my thoughts. I practice yoga to clear my mind, but running allows my brain to process life's going ons.

Finding new footpaths whilst trail running

 I stopped road running after completing the Inverness Half Marathon in 2018. I was in pain by mile 3, but I hobbled over the finishing line, chuffed to bits with my time of 1 hr 58mins. The pain was not solved by a hot bath, and following that race I wasn't able to run for months as I healed from greater trochanteric bursitis (aka lower hip pain). Once I did slowly start running again, I stuck purely to the trails, lessening the impact on my joints.   

Misty woods on rainy day trail runs

One of the many reasons I prefer trail running is the sense of adventure I experience. I find it is one of the best ways for me to explore my local area. I frequently find new footpaths - quiet little singletracks which go largely untrodden - and create new routes. I rarely see a soul.

Today felt quite special, as I tend to run in the rain, and I haven't seen the sun much lately. However, I love running through the misty forests, feeling like I've been transported to the Pacific Northwest. Despite the sunny weather today, the recent North Wales weather made itself obvious, as I spent most of the 8k squelching along with soggy feet.

Snowy running whilst training for the Inverness Half in 2018

City Hopping in Taiwan

Unlike most of our holidays, much of our trip to Taiwan was spent staying in cities. Cities are not our favourite places, so we spent much of our time looking for green space in the parks, or arranging day trips to other popular spots... and drinking bubble tea.

After our stay in the beautiful Dulan on the Pacific coast, we spent a night in Taitung, a short distance south of Dulan. Our favourite place here was definitely Liyushan Park. We wandered past the Buddhist Temples, walking up the hill through the forest, daundering from viewpoint to viewpoint. I really like being able to get a view of a city - it helps me get a feel for the place. As we walked the quiet trails, Buddhist music echoed from the temples, creating a wonderful spiritual atmosphere in the park.

Liyushan Park, Taitung City

After our stay in Taitung, we caught the train north to Hualien for three nights. Hualien is the gateway for what is probably Taiwan's most popular National Park - Taroko. We spent very little time in the city, instead opting for two day trips to Taroko. We crammed into busy buses full of walkers to explore the incredible marble landscape of the Park. Humans have shown off their engineering, carving roads and tunnels through the steep mountainsides. There is obviously some amazing walking to be done there, with the most exciting trails requiring permits to be arranged in advance (doh). We enjoyed our walks there, though at times faced the disappointment of hopping off the shuttle bus to find the trail closed. The Park authorities seem to be facing a constant battle with rockfalls. There is signage every 100m or so about rockfall danger - I'm not sure I want to imagine what it's like there after some heavy monsoon rainfall.

Taroko National Park

Taroko National Park

Our final full day was spent exploring Taipei. Taipei boasts lots of "city hiking", so we hopped on the metro to Xiangshan to climb Elephant Mountain and see amazing views of the city, including the towering Taipei 101. It felt really good climbing all those steps, knowing that later that evening we would be travelling back home for over 13 hours. The trails were busy up to the viewpoints, but we turned our walk into a loop and managed to escape the crowds for a while.   

Taipei and Taipei 101 viewed from Elephant Mountain

Finding some quiet trails around Elephant Mountain

Taiwan was an amazing cultural experience. I loved the fruity bubble teas, the way the bin lorries played a tune like ice cream vans do here. I loved the stalls of fresh fruit selling dragonfruit, sugar apples, bananas and oranges. I loved the excitement of wandering through the night markets, wondering what we would have for our dinner (but not so much inhaling the horrendous smell that is stinky tofu). The people were friendly and helpful, and the cities exciting and clean. We saw monkeys. The countryside, restricted largely to the mountains and the east coast, is beautiful, from lush green mountains to the stunning Pacific coastline. I can see why, when the Portuguese first spotted the island, they called it "Ilha Formosa" - "Beautiful island".

The Search for Surf in Taiwan

It's our second winter living in North Wales, and the second time I've had my way in terms of a winter holiday. Last year we ventured to Morocco for a week (post to come on that soon), but having been to Morocco twice now, and spent at least a day ill both times, I felt like a change. I have also, for years and years, been dreaming of the tropics. Instagram is a wonderful thing but it also makes me green-eyed with envy as I see people surfing longboards on beautiful small, clean waves - and without being covered in neoprene! I practically start drooling over pictures of fresh fruit, and coconut palm trees. I was desperate to experience this.

Walking down to Dulan beach

And so, after much research and um-ing and ah-ing over different countries, we settled on a more unusual surf destination: Taiwan. Claiming uncrowded breaks (very tempting after the incredibly crowded Imsouanne Bay last year), warm temperatures, a beautiful coastline, friendly people and post-typhoon season small swells, we booked our flights in anticipation.

We had two weeks in Taiwan, but only the first week of our holiday was planned out. From Taipei, we would get a train down the East Rift Valley to Taitung, and from there hop in a taxi to a small town on the Pacific coast called Dulan.

With a picture firmly in my mind of blue skies, palm trees, gentle breezes and perfect small surf, it was thoroughly shattered on arrival at the Pacific coast. Palm trees, yes, but bent over and swaying in strong winds. Grey skies. Driftwood piled at the top of the shingle, reminding me of my last visit to the Pacific coast - Tofino, Vancouver Island, which greeted me with similar weather on my arrival (and with a little rain!). I look over at Ben, grimacing. We flew all the way here for this?!

Windy welcome to the Pacific coast

 Alas, nothing can be done about the weather, and we enjoyed exploring the beautiful area as the typhoon weather steadily made its way further out into the Pacific. Dulan has a lot to offer, with an artist's community and brewery based in the Old Sugar Factory, some lovely coastal and inland walking, and lots of lovely places to eat out.

Surfing at Jinzun Harbour

Our surf hopes were broken by other disappointments at the hostel we stayed at, but focussing solely now on the bright side, we did manage two surfs during our stay in Dulan. Our first was at the super point break at Jinzun Harbour. Point breaks are steadily appealing to me more and more, and how lucky I felt being able to surf at a break which was getting set up for various World Surf League competitions in the following weeks (including the Women's Longboard Championships). Sheltered from the wind, and with the sun shining in full glory, I paddled out, sticking to the inside as overhead waves peeled round the end of the harbour, attempting to catch smaller waves as they reformed further in. The break was not too busy, and lots of smiles from the locals made it a really relaxed atmosphere.

And the view. I gazed in awe at the beautiful grey sands of Jinzun beach, backed by large mountains covered in lush green trees. It was absolutely stunning, and definitely one of the most beautiful places I have ever been fortunate to surf at. I did not surf particularly well, but enjoyed my time there regardless.

Jinzun Beach

Our second surf was at Dulan beach, on the first day where the waves looked inviting rather than pulverising. Once we found the sandbanks and worked out the currents, I really enjoyed catching some long waves, but only in the whitewash, as the waves out the back were still a little big for my confidence. Nonetheless, it was an excellent learning experience, and I am finally starting to feel confidence in my own knowledge and understanding of beach breaks. Plus, we were the only people in the water. I'm sure there aren't many tropical surf spots that can boast that. 

Dulan Beach

All in all, Taiwan did provide the palm trees, fresh fruit, uncrowded surf breaks and sunshine that I had wished for. I surfed warm water without head to toe neoprene for the first time. Most of the travellers we met were stopping off there for a short time, between their travels in the Philippines, Indonesia and so forth, and so for them Taiwan was not quite the surf disappointment we found it to be, as all our hopes were pinned on this one Pacific coast. With our changing climate, we cannot now rely in the seasons, as the typhoon season extended into our time there.

Somewhere out there are the small, clean, uncrowded tropical waves that I dream of. The search to find them will continue. But for now, we are both so happy to be back near our North Wales spots, neoprene at the ready.